Japan’s poo-powered Toilet Bike Neo makes a big stink outside Tokyo

Last year we gave you a glimpse of the poo-poo powered, three-wheeled Toilet Bike Neo from popular Japanese toilet-maker Toto. In addition to its (*ahem*) “green” power source, the Toilet Bike Neo has the distinction of, well, looking like a giant toilet on wheels. But don’t be so quick to flush this quirky design down the drain as simply a publicity stunt. The toilet-seated trike was originally designed as a part of a green initiative undertaken by Toto in Japan whereby a self-imposed company-wide reduction of C02 emissions is currently set for 2017.

Despite its lovely latrine-like design, the Toilet Bike Neo is not actually powered by human waste as originally believed. Instead, according to Metro UK, the three-wheeled 250cc motorcycle runs on biogas fuel, (fertilized, purified, and compressed livestock waste and household wastewater). So, rather unfortunately, any notion of powering this ingenious contraption for miles on end (from your rear end) after dining on the best Mexican or Indian cuisine money can buy is simply out of the question.

For now, Toto hasn’t decided whether its Toilet Bike Neo will actually make it to production. The bike recently made its debut last week in a Fujisawa showroom, near Tokyo, as it continues its poop-fueled journey across the island nation.

Indeed, we’re not holding our breath (only our noses) at the prospect of this actually making its way to production either. As a marketing mechanism for the company’s environmental efforts, Toto’s design is flawless, but the reality that riders will have easy access to the necessary biofuels, especially in larger cities is unlikely.We can’t imagine sitting on a giant toilet is altogether comfortable either.

And don’t look to it as a convenient road-going potty machine either because that idea has gone down the crapper, too. According to the company’s blog post, the bike doesn’t have the proper mechanisms to actually function as a toilet, so that giant roll of toilet paper attached the back of the bike will likely only be used to wipe the bugs off your face shield and nothing more.